Royal Australian Mint Launch Treasure Hunt For Rare $1 Coins

  • Family

By: Alex Harmon, ellaslist

Quick kids, check mum and dad's wallets, or bust open that piggy bank! The Royal Australian Mint has launched a nation-wide treasure hunt and released 3 million specially marked $1 coins into circulation.

This is a friendly reminder to stop using your credit cards and ask for your change in dollar coins! We say it's the most exciting treasure hunt since Charlie Bucket went looking for his golden ticket. 

Except that the prize isn't drowning yourself in rivers of chocolate, but, wait for it, a trip to Canberra.

To be fair, we love Canberra (read our guide here) and there's a very little chance of being burned in the incinerator when you visit the Mint. 

A Golden Opportunity

How will you know if your coin is one of the lucky ones? The coins are marked with the letters A, U or S, are date stamped 2019 and have the number 35 to mark the 35th anniversary of the $1 coin (which is on May 14, 2019).

Those who get their mitts on one of each coin can enter the competition for the chance to be one of eight to win a trip to Canberra where you will stay at the very cool Jamala Wildlife Lodge.  Here you'll get to visit the National Zoo & Aquarium and sleep over in Canberra's first luxury lodge experience where you are only a heartbeat away from the animals. 

The eight winners - picked from each state and territory - will also get the opportunity to mint their own one-kilogram pure silver coin  (worth around $600) and receive a VIP tour of the Mint.

It Makes Cents

If you aren't one of the chosen 8, don't despair, there are 50 runners-up prizes of $150 Royal Australian Mint vouchers, and 5000 will win an Aussie Dollar Discovery piggy bank.

To win, you must register online here and then collect all three of the specially marked $1 coins. 

The competition closes on April 8, and the winners will be drawn on May 14, 2019.

Get The Kids Into Coin Collecting

Sadly, cash is becoming a thing of the past, yet according to a poll of 1000 people commissioned by the Royal Australian Mint, most Australians agree that saving pocket money and collecting coins helps develop patience, persistence and financial literacy, particularly for children. The poll also found that nearly half of today’s adults have nostalgic memories of saving coins in their piggy banks and six in 10 now give kids coins to save or collect as a hobby. This is a great chance to talk to your kids about the value of money and get them into a hobby that isn't collecting plastic crap that ends up in our oceans, I'm looking at you, Coles....

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